10-31-2020

 Good Morning All, 

          Ephesians 2: 8-9; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

    Today, we observe Reformation day.  It is the day that Martin Luther posted the 95 theses which he wanted to debate.  Corruption, abuse of power and false teachings led to these theses.  As the Reformation moved along, the reformers began to speak in the slogans of the Reformation.  There were five of them.  There is Scriptura Sola, this means “Scriptures alone”.  Only the Bible is the final authority for a Christian, if it goes against the Bible; it is wrong.  There is Christus sola, this means “Christ alone”.  Christ is our only avenue, our only hope to get into heaven.  There is soli Deo Glorias, this means that all the glory belongs to God and that we live to His glory, not ours.

    The last two are the ones that had a great influence on Luther.  They are sola gratia and sola fide.  These mean by grace alone and by faith alone.  When the Scriptures opened to Luther, this is what sung to his heart, this is what lifted his soul.  For all his life, Luther was taught that he had to perform “good works” to offset his sins.  Luther recognized that he sinned more than he did good things.  In other words, Luther knew he was losing ground and fast.  There was no way he could ever measure up.  Then he read our verses.  Paul clearly and pointedly tells us the truth, in its simplest form.  We are saved from our sins by God’s grace and God’s grace alone.  It is not the result of our good works or our efforts; it is all a gift from a loving God who desires that all men be saved.  We receive this great and wonderful gift by faith, by simply trusting in the promise of God.

    This is the freeing truth of the Reformation.  God’s love is not earned, it is freely poured out upon us even when we sin.  It is poured out because of the loving nature of God and not because of the nature of man.  We can take great comfort in this truth; it is fresh air to a stale soul.  All my efforts to please God fall short, way short.  Yet that does not stop God from loving us.  All my faults, foibles, weaknesses, failures, and sins do not cause God to turn his back.  Nothing causes God to walk away from us.  He is continually inviting us back into his loving kingdom and family.  You do not have to earn God’s favor; he loves you and brings you into his loving arms to keep you safe from all the devil throws at us. 

    The death and resurrection of Jesus is the purest form of love ever to exist.  Jesus did it for us, for you and for me.  He willingly paid our debt so that we could have his righteousness for our own.  His loved freed us from the tyranny of sin, death, and the power of the devil.  He willingly, lovingly gives to us life eternal with him and all we do is believe and hold onto it and never let go.  For by God’s undeserved love, you have salvation.  Hold onto that truth, see that truth as the hope in a broken world.  Life eternal is ours; thanks be to God!

 Father of all mercies, your love is new to us each morning.  Keep us safe in your arms.  Strengthen our faith that we may always cling to you.  When the storms rage, keep us sheltered in your presence.  This we ask in the precious name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

10-30-2020

 Good Morning All, 

              1 Corinthians 6:11; “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

      We get a kick out of watching our grandchildren grow up.  They love their Grandma’s snack cupboard.  They can get good and sticky working on the snacks.   The funny thing is they do not really like to have sticky hands.  They want mom, dad, or anyone close to clean their hands.  After Easter and the Easter egg hunt, with the candy that melted in their hands, they really needed to have clean hands.  It is funny to watch little toddlers who love the outdoors not like to have dirty hands. 

     Sometimes, in our lives, it gets a little messy.  Sometimes, it gets a lot messy.  Our lives are a very messy and complicated affair.  It would be so much easier if we could keep it simple and on task.  Yet “stuff” can get in the way.  We finally get our feet on the ground and going forward and then one day we go in and find out that the company we work for is “downsizing”; which is the politically correct saying for “you’re fired.”  Sometimes, we find the person we think just might be the one, but he gets transferred across country and she cannot go for a year; can they last? 

     Sometimes things are looking good but then a child gets a severe illness.  The medical costs are going through the roof.  The parents need to keep working, they need to spend time with their sick child, they need to spend time with their other children.  The strain plays out in their lives and their marriage.  It can get messy; perhaps, real sticky.  Perhaps, it is your spouse that gets told that the doctors have done everything they can do.

     Life can be messy and despite this; God still loves you.  Jesus came to live among people and to be involved in their messy lives.  He came to die a very messy death to pay the debt of sin which we owed.  It was a huge bill; it was going to be messy to pay for it and it was.  Yet on Easter, God cleaned it up and cleaned it up completely. 

    Through Christ we are a new creation.  We are washed and cleansed from the messiness of sin.  While we may feel the effects of sin, sin does not need to cause us pain.  Sin does not separate us from God anymore.  Sin does not make us too messy for God to come to us and to love us and to give us comfort.  He sends his Spirit to bring us hope.  He calls us to prayer to speak to him and to tell him our fears and our worries.  He comes to bring you the peace that a messy world does not let us have.  Life after Easter is different.  While there are still messes, they wash off because Jesus has cleansed us from our sins, gives us new life and gives us hope.

Gracious Lord, life is messy, yet you give us hope to live through the pain and the struggles.  You give us the certainty of our salvation and the comfort of your Spirit.  Be with those who are in especially messy situations and are in need of your comforting Spirit.  Send them the consolation that they need.  In the precious name of Jesus, our Risen Savior, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

10-29-2020

 Good Morning All, 

        Matthew 7:7; “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

       There is an old story often told about prayer.  There once was a man who lived his life believing in Jesus and trusting in the promise of his eternal salvation.  Much of his earthly life was a struggle from one incidence to another.  So, when he died and went to heaven, he was greeted by St. Peter and shown the mansion that he was going to spend eternity in.  The man was in awe of the size and scope of God’s blessings for him in eternity.  As they opened the door to look around, the place was filled with boxes, hundreds, and hundreds of boxes.  The man asked St. Peter about the boxes.  St. Peter replied, “These were the blessings that were yours for the asking while you lived on earth.  We will move them soon as you do not need them now.”

     This little piece of fiction is designed to tell us about prayer.  Jesus, repeatedly, asks us, begs us, and pleads with us to pray.  Yet how often do we?  How many times have we faced difficulties or battles and tried to cope with them on our own rather than trusting God and placing our fears in his hands?  How many times do we turn away from God rather than toward him in prayer?  Prayer is a great blessing that God gives to us yet often I hear people say things like, “I have done all I can do; now it is up to God.”  It has always been up to God.  Or maybe, “The only thing left is to pray.”  That is where we should start.

     The problem that most of us have with prayer is that we limit it.  We define a prayer as being answered only if it goes the way we want when we want it.  If we pray for a new job but do not get it, we think the prayer has failed.  If we pray for rain and do not get it, then our prayer went unheard.  What we need to see is that through prayer God seeks to change us and our heart.  He seeks to give us the comfort and the solace that we need if only we would ask for the grace to receive it.

   We need to ask God to change our heart and not our situation.  We need contentment more than we need a bigger paycheck.  We need patience more than we need a faster response.  We need to see that we need to change more than that others need to change to suit us.  We need to know that healing is not always physical but is more often spiritual and emotional reconnecting.  We need to see that God answers our needs and not always our wants but when we trust in God to answer our prayers; he will faithfully do so.

    We need to trust that God’s will is the best for us even when in the short term it looks differently.  Trust God and then ask him for his bountiful blessing; he will shower you with them like a gentle spring rain.

Father of all blessings, we are often slow to come to you for the many blessings that you would shower upon us.  We walk away from you and your amazing love.  Guide us to trust in you.  Be with those who struggle and battle on their own and suffer from the loneliness that this causes.  Bring them to the safety of your loving arms.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

10-28-2020

 Good Morning All, 

            Luke 19:10; “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

      I am somewhat of a “trekkie”; that is, I like to watch “Star Trek.”  I like the old TV series with Kirk and Scottie and Sulu.  I like it because the special effects are kind of cheesy, but the story line is usually predictable.  One of the shows was about a civilization that was controlled by a computer.  The whole purpose of the civilization was to obey the computer.  So now Kirk must figure out how to destroy the computer without interfering with the civilization.  A tricky plot indeed.  But in the end, the computer was foiled, and the civilization went on to develop as it should, and it only took an hour to resolve.

     Unfortunately, we cannot solve most of our problems in an hour.  Most of our struggles can take years to develop.  It may take a few days for them to mushroom into something hugely out of control, but they usually fester for years.  It might be the slight cuts of disrespect to our parents or our spouse.  It may be the cold and callous way we act toward others.  Or it might be our dietary and exercise habits over the years that have led to high blood pressure and cholesterol problems.

     We may have been less than friendly at work or maybe put in just enough effort so they would not fire us.  There are many ways our struggles begin but they will always take a painful twist because of our sin and because the devil really enjoys our pain.  He even takes minor disturbances and makes them seem huge.  Think not?  Have you ever thought of a problem that nagged at you and did not let you sleep?  How big did your imagination make that problem?  This is usually how it goes.  The devil loves to take those festering problems, caused by our sins, and make them blow up right in our face.  That is the devil’s sole purpose; to torment you and to drive you from God.

    Yet Jesus came to earth for one sole purpose and that was to buy us back.  He came to save the lost, you and me.  He came to bring us relief from the devil’s taunts and attacks.  He came to save us from sin and the pain that it can cause in our life.  He came to bring us back to God’s family.  Through his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, he blazed the path for our eternal life and our peace with God.

    The struggles of the world are still here but they do not separate us from God, and we can face them knowing that God’s love will always be there for us.  It is his grace that sustains us through our battles, through the eruptions of pain which will occur.  God’s grace will guide us along.  Jesus came to find you; rest in the comfort of the knowledge that he will never lose you.

Father of all mercy, through your wondrous grace we are found.  You have sent Jesus to make us your own dear children.  Guide us by your grace as we battle the devil and the pain which he brings us.  Be with those who still feel lost.  Shine your light of mercy upon them and give them the comfort of your peace.  In the precious name of Jesus our risen savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

10-27-2020

  Good Morning All, 

               Psalm 90:12; “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

       I was visiting with a younger mother the other day.  She and her husband have three children, two boys and a girl.  She has a job; he has a job, and the children participate in just about everything.  They have soccer and spring baseball and softball.  They have dance, music in school and one set of piano lessons.  She has everything plugged into her smartphone which is synced to her husband’s phone.  She belongs to a couple of civic groups and is willing to help with the youth at her church.  I got winded listening to her.

    I asked her if they ever had time to eat together as a family.  She replied, “Oh yeah, real often, we go through the drive through on the way to a game somewhere.”  Well, I guess it is family time.  Yet does it really count?  One of the unfortunate side effects of trying to have everything is that when you get it; there is no time.  If you have and do everything, there truly is not enough time in the day and there really is not time in your life.

   We seem to think that to be happy or successful that we must have everything, do everything, and leave nothing for tomorrow.  Yet the one thing that truly suffers is our relationships because these need to be built on people and not on things.  I talked with a counselor one time who was seeing an increase in couples in their mid-40’s through early-50’s who had no idea how to interact or communicate with each other.  They were married in their early to mid-20’s had a family, chased kids for 15-20 years and when they became empty nesters; they were left empty.

    In our verse, God is telling us to plan wisely.  The most important parts of life here on earth are the relationships that we form.  God gives us the gift of faith.  He gives us the forgiveness of sins.  He gives us the gift of reconciliation.  He wants us to foster out loving relationships with those people who he places in lives.  He gives us the time, the energy, and the wherewithal to make them satisfying relationships.  Yet we cannot keep putting “things” ahead of people.  We cannot keep thinking that having our children in one more event or that our belonging to one more club is the answer.  We must stop seeing stuff as the answer to the hard work that relationships are.

    Relationships can get messy every so often.  This will happen when sinful people are put in the same room.  Yet God’s love for us is to have solid loving relationships here on earth as a dim reminder of the love that God has for us.  It is also to give us a helpmate here on earth.  It is to give us someone to share the glad and the sad moments with.  Our life should be about each other and not about stuff.

Gracious Lord, we see in you the perfect relationship between Father and Son.  Help us to strive for this type of relationship here in this life.  Give us the wisdom to pick people over things.  Be with those who are struggling with their relationships at this time.  Help those who are lost in the shallowness of possessions and guide them by your Spirit back into your loving arms.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

10-26-2020

 Good Morning All, 

       Mark 9:24; “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

     As I teach various confirmation age kids and high school age kids, it is fascinating to listen to their life stories and events.  A few will become Facebook friends and I can delve into their lives a little deeper.  So, as I was perusing the Facebook postings, one of them had posted this:

Just read the saddest words ever. On an obituary for a teenage boy, his parents wrote this: "He did a lot of good things in his short life, went to such-and-such a church, but like most teens struggled with his faith. We hope he's in a better place now..."     Talk about heartbreaking.

That phrase “struggled with his faith” is a very painful phrase.  Maybe you have a child or a spouse or maybe even you “struggle with your faith.”  Welcome to the club.  I think that there are times in every person’s life when they struggle with faith some struggles are longer or deeper than others but struggle, we do.  It might be an event or two in our life; it might be something we hear or see; it might just be the frustration of life rearing its ugly head, but there are times when we all struggle with our faith.

    I believe this because the Bible constantly refers to people who are weak in faith.  The father in our verse for one.  Peter for one, Thomas the doubter for one, the Apostle Paul for one, me for one and, maybe, you for one.  God knows that faith is going to be a challenge.  There will be so many things attacking it and there will be days when we waver; there will be days that we struggle with our faith.

    That is even why God gave us the Bible.  St. John wrote, “…these things are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” is probably a more accurate translation of this verse.  So, we can continue to believe.  God gives us the Bible as the place where we go to remind us that are saved and that He does all the work.

    If I could talk to these parents, I would tell them it is not the size or strength of his faith, but it is entirely by God’s grace that this young man will see heaven.  Do you believe that your sins are forgiven? (YES) That’s it; not how much, not how well we understand it, not how well we can explain it just do you believe (YES) is all we need.  We will struggle, sometimes mightily, but that is the beauty of God’s grace; it is made perfect in our weakness.  God's grace alone saves, and it is always big enough.

Father of mercy, help our unbelief.  Guide us by your perfect Spirit to trust your Word.  Even when we struggle, draw us back to your Word of comfort and hope.  Still our fears and our doubts but when they come protect us with your grace and mercy.  Be with those who are especially struggling with their faith at this time.  Gently return them to your loving arms.  Use us as the instruments of mercy to bring this about.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

10-25-2020

 Good Morning All, 

          Deuteronomy 10:18; “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.”

      His name was William Wilberforce.  I would guess most of us do not know who he is.  He was a leading abolitionist in the United Kingdom.  He lived from 1759-1833.  He was a very influential leader who made it his total and sole ambition to rid the kingdom of slavery.  He was driven by his faith in God.  The truly amazing thing about him is that at the time of his death; his zeal had changed the debate within the kingdom, and the western world forever.

    The debate about helping people, those who were poor and homeless, those who were widows and orphans; that debate went from do we help to how do we help.  The debate was no longer do we, as a society or people, have an obligation to our fellow man.  The true question became the method to deliver this help.  It was truly a watershed time for most of western civilization.  Wilberforce’s compassion and his zeal for aiding the downtrodden moved the greatest kingdom at that time to become a more compassionate kingdom.

    This is exactly what God instructed the Children of Israel to do; to be compassionate.  They were to leave the gleanings (the leftovers from harvest), the edges of the field, and any grapes or olives that they dropped on the ground for the orphans, the widows and the alien (sojourner) in their land.  They were not only supposed to not hurt them, but they were expected to care and show hospitality to them.

    When we read the writings of the prophets later on, when they are laying out the accusations of unfaithfulness that God states to them, it is often that they mistreated the poor and the underprivileged.  This action was the result of their overall unfaithfulness to God.  The sin of cheating others, especially those who were unable to defend themselves, was an outward sign of an inner corruption.

    That is how God views our good (or bad) works.  Our works are only the outward sign of what is truly in our heart.  When Jesus told his disciples that in their giving “the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.”  This is as much a call to have kindness and charity be such a part of life that it as familiar as breathing.  Our work, before God, is to reconcile with our fellow man and to care for each other and to really mean it.

    God calls us to action and not to lip service.  He calls us to show the love that we receive to those who we have content with.  We may debate how best to do it, but we should never debate that it is the right thing to do.  Love one another; love your neighbor as yourself.  These are the new commands that Jesus gives us.  Now we need to act.

Father of love, give me a compassionate heart and a willing spirit.  Move me to help my neighbors with true love and not grudgingly.  Guide me to share the bounty of your gracious gifts.  Guide us to those who are in need of your bounty and in need of your grace.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

10-24-2020

 Good Morning All, 

         Ephesians 2:8; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”

    I want you to imagine for a moment that you have just received a gift card to your favorite restaurant for $1000.  You get excited and you and your spouse and your family go out for supper.  You order expensive food and enjoy the meal thoroughly.  You laugh and talk freely because the meal is free.  After you use the card there is some leftover, so you decide to come back again next week.  When you return, you find out that no money has been taken off the card account.  So, you have another large meal with your family.  The next week you come back, and the same thing happens; the card never runs out of money.

   Now you are excited.  Maybe you could invite a friend or two to come along but who would you invite?  Would you invite your neighbors or would you invite someone that used to be very important in your life at one time but you both moved on, perhaps a former co-worker or someone you used to go to school with.  Would you invite the new person at work that you just met?  Wouldn’t it be exciting?  You would not have to pay for supper, they would not have to pay for supper; the entire evening meal would be already paid for, a gift from some kind benefactor.  The fun thing is that next time, you can either bring a whole new set of people or you can bring the same ones you brought this time.

   Would you spend time trying to match up people you know so they could now have some new friends?  Maybe, just maybe, you could call a few of those people with whom you have had a falling out and try to fix it so that you are friends again.  That would be nice.  Think of all the things you could do with a great gift like that.

    You have a great gift like that.  God has given you the gift of salvation, an everlasting gift that never runs out.  God pours his grace on you, over you and in you.  He pours so much grace upon you that there is more than enough to share; so, do you?  Do you share God’s grace with those around you or do you try and hide it away?

    We share God’s grace by telling others about the love and peace we have through Jesus.  We also share that grace by treating people as God treats us and that is with more care and understanding than we deserve.  We share God’s grace by giving a smile and a kind word rather than a growl.  We share God’s grace by speaking softly to deflect anger and being calm instead of agitated.  We show God’s grace by being patient with the store clerk who is doing the best that he can.  God showers you with more grace than you can ever envision; share a little with those around you. 

Father of all grace, you pour your love out upon us like a river.  Give us the wisdom to share that same grace with those around us. Help us to seek out those who are most in need of your grace.  Guide us to the hurt, the lonely and those of broken spirit.  Deliver your grace to them.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

10-23-2020

 Good Morning All, 

         Deuteronomy 5:15a; “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.”

      “We are slaves to no one!”  That was a comment made by the Jewish leaders to Jesus when he called them slaves.  The fact that their country was occupied by the Roman Empire at the time was just a matter of perspective, I guess.  As we read that section of Scriptures, we often chuckle at this; how can they possibly say they are not slaves?  Now maybe technically they were not but they paid onerous taxes to an occupying force and were required to ask for permission of this occupying government to do just about anything.  That sounds like slavery, a time when you do not get to make your own choices.  It is either slavery or prison; take your pick.

     That is the good thing about living in the good ole’ US of A.  We are free; we are slaves to no one; almost.  Unfortunately, we are among the poorest slaves because we are not only slaves, but we willingly became one.  We have abandoned God in favor of what we call being tolerant of others.  Now on the surface this sounds good; except it has become the code word for “don’t speak the truth.”  We are slaves to consumerism and think that we must buy more and more.  It always amazes me how everyone has a smartphone, even kids, why?  Usually the answer is “because everyone else does.”

    We are truly slaves.  We are slaves to sin, to greed, to a pluralistic consumerism that demands that we “buy” into anything.  We believe that our personal wants should supersede the needs of others.  “I want, I want” is enough of a mantra for us to turn our backs on the needs of our fellow man because we are slaves to our own selfish foolishness.  But we do not need to be that way.

    Just as God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, so God has freed us from slavery to sin and our own selfish foolishness.  We are free but just like the Israelites often wanted to go back to Egypt and live in slavery; we too want to go back to slavery to sin.  We want to go back because our sinful nature wants us to believe that this is the best life we can have.  Yet God calls us to a better life.  He calls us to a life of freedom from this want.  We do not have to be slaves to this want; we are free from being slaves to this want.

   God, by his grace, will give us peace and contentment if we trust in him.  He gives us so much to enjoy, the time with family and friends, the beauty of nature and the freshness of his Word.  Jesus stretched out his arms to free you from slavery; do not go running back.

Gracious Father, in your great love and mercy you have freed me from the slavery to sin.  Give me the wisdom to maintain that freedom.  Help to overcome the slavery to wants that only hurt us and separate us from your love.  Grant us the wisdom to seek your peace and your peace alone.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

10-22-2020

 Good Morning All, 

      Genesis 3:9; “But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

    This past weekend we had all the grandkids at our house.  We made apple cider, played baseball, and rode bikes and had all sorts of fun.  We even played a little hide and go seek.  Now our oldest grandson is getting pretty good, but the two youngest granddaughters are still in the “novice” stage.  Usually, you just need to listen and hear them giggle and they usually hide in the same spot, so they are easy to find, but what fun is that?

    So, I start by wandering towards the bedroom, “Where’s Blake?”  “Where is Cole?”  “Where is Sydney?”  “Where is Avery?”  “Where is Lila?”  As I came back into the TV area, I picked up a stuffed dog that Grandma got him because it is the dog from one of his favorite books “Charlie”.  Charlie is a basset hound who sniffs out critters on the ranch.  So, we had Charlie sniffing for grandkids.  They would giggle try to run away with Charlie in “hot pursuit”.

    Now I could have walked over to where any of them were right away, they cannot really hide from me in my house but where is the fun in that?  I had a nephew who thought he could hide by placing a towel over his head.  Everyone in the room could watch him but he thought he was hidden.  In many ways, just like my nephew or grandkids, we think we can hide from God and it just does not work.

    God comes looking for us.  Now he could just come up to us and pick us up but that would probably scare us to no end.  So, he calls out to us.  He calls us by his Gospel, that message of salvation that we receive because of Jesus death and atonement.  He calls to us through this Word and he calls to us in his physical Word, the body and blood of Jesus in Holy Communion.  He calls us with his love, “Where are you?”  He seeks us out to bring us back into his loving presence.

    “Where are you?” is out of God’s favor because of our selfishness or greed, our inward desires for our own pleasures.  So, we try and hide from God either because we think we have to or want to, but we try to hide, and God sees us the whole time.  “Where are you?” is really in God’s loving arms we just do not always see it.  God is holding us much like we hold a small child trying to calm them down.

    So, the next time you wonder “where am I?” look to the empty cross and know that you are in the loving arms of your forgiving Father.  Look to the open and empty tomb and see what glory waits us.  “Where are you?”  You are in God’s grace so rest in his assurance of his mercy.

Father, there are so many times that I want to hide because of fear or pain.  Yet if I could hide, all I would feel is the pain.  Thank you for finding me with your love and for keeping me safe in your loving mercy.  Be with those who feel the need or desire to hide from you.  Give them the calming peace by your Holy Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

10-21-2020

 Good Morning All, 

          Acts 4:34; “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold”

     There are many powerful verses or phrases in the Bible that can and should cause us to wonder and to be in awe of.  When Jesus said, “It is finished.” Or when the angel said, “He is not here; for he has risen!”  These are a couple of those verses.  “It is finished.”  The job is done, the debt is paid in full; the last payment on the mortgage is made.  “He is not here; for he has risen!” Forever, our life is changed.  We are entirely different creatures now.  With our debt fully paid and with Christ raised from the dead and reigning forever; our life is changed or is it?

    Our verse for today is one of the powerful verses. “There was not a needy person among them,” can we say that?  Can we look at our church family and our neighborhood and say, “there is not a needy person among them?”  I know our response, “I do the best I can.” I know we do.  I know that to many of you this is going to sound like a plea (demand?) for money for the church, but it really is not.  This verse, although easily twisted into a plea for more money, is more than that.  It moves much deeper into what our life as a Christian should be.  It is about compassion.

    For many of us, giving to the church is a matter of duty or of guilty conscience or of selfish desire.  We give to get others off our back and to make it easier to sleep at night.  Some of the church’s largest donors were mafia kings and drug lords trying to appease their guilt and buy their redemption; neither worked.  This verse is not about money; it is about compassion.  The members of the church body looked around, saw needs, and met them.  In our verse, apparently the needs were physical, food, clothing, shelter, and the like; so many sold some things to provide the funds.  It does not say they sold everything; it says they met the needs of the people among them.  Do we meet the needs of the people among us?

   I read the story a few days ago about the third grade boy who answered the question “What I want my teacher to know...” with the answer “that I don’t have anyone to play with.”  That is a needy person and money will not really solve anything.  What this little boy needs is someone’s time.  Maybe this would be the best compassion to show.  You may be the parent or grandparent who ends up being talked into coaching the local t-ball or soccer club.  As hectic as that is, be sure to watch for the young ones who need your attention because it may be lacking at home.  Look around your church and your neighborhood; is there someone who always eats alone, sits alone, and goes home to an empty house?  They may prefer that, or they may be as lonely as it looks.  For us as Christians, the challenge of “there was not a needy person among them” is great.  Ask the Lord for guidance and courage to meet this need.  God be with you as you do.

Father, you give us all we need to support this body and life.  Give me the courage and the wisdom to aid my brothers and sisters and all those around me in need to come to their aid and comfort.  Bring us closer as a community that we may share your love and mercy with all.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior and King we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

10-20-2020

  Good Morning All, 

            John 21:4; “Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.”

    Are you expecting Jesus?  The disciples in our verse were not expecting him.  Our story begins with seven of the disciples (probably the fishermen of the group) were at the Sea of Galilee and Peter announces to the rest that he is going fishing.  The rest agree to go with him.  We aren’t told why Peter made this statement.  Perhaps he thought it was time to get back to work; it was time to earn a living again.  Perhaps he wanted to use the time of fishing to think and try and figure out all that has happened in the last few days.  Perhaps he was nervous and just needed something to do to keep his mind occupied.  These or other reasons might be why Peter decided to go fishing; we are never told.

    Yet as they had been out all night and were unsuccessful; they were coming back to shore.  A guy on the beach asked them if they caught anything and they answered “no.”  This guy on the beach told them to drop their nets on the right side and they would catch some fish.   Soon they had so many they could barely pull in the net.  One of the other disciples recognized Jesus but it was Peter who jumped in the water and made his way to shore.  The disciples recognized that it was Jesus who spoke to them and was now standing in their presence making breakfast for them.

    The disciples were not expecting Jesus to be standing on the shore as they came in from their evening of work, but he was there.  Do you expect to meet Jesus when you are working?  Do you even think about him at work?  Or are you a “suit coat Christian”?  A few years ago, when men always wore suits to church; most would put the suit coat on as they left for church and took it off as soon as they were home and didn’t put it back on until the next Sunday.  Some of us do that with our faith.  We put it on as we go to church, but we take it off and leave it in the closet the rest of the week.  Our faith does not seem to have much impact on our “real” life and that is unfortunate.  For there are many times when expressing our faith could impact someone we are working with, someone who is hurting or lost and in need of God’s mercy in their life.

    God wants us to live our faith every day.  First, so that we may always know and remember the comfort and the security of his love and grace that he has for us.  This is to give us the certainty of our salvation through Jesus.  Secondly, it is to keep us aware of those around us who are in need.  They may need an ear to listen or a shoulder to lean on or they may need a word of encouragement; whatever the need, when we keep our faith on at all times, we can be ready.  We can be ready to meet Jesus standing on our shore as we finish our daily work.

Gracious Lord, give me the wisdom to always wear my faith.  Keep me close to you so that I will always know your grace.  Give me the courage to speak your truth to those around me.  Lead me to be merciful to the ones who are in pain or are suffering that I may share your grace with them this day.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

10-19-2020

 Good Morning All, 

           Philippians 2:7; “but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

       I was standing with a friend outside an auditorium where a convention was going on.  We were talking about life in general when a lady came up and asked one of us (not sure who), “Are you someone important?”  I still am not sure how one should answer this question.  Most of us were raised to be somewhat modest.  We read the story in the Bible where Jesus speaks of taking a seat in the back instead of one of the prime seats.  If you are important the host will move, you up but if you are not that important the host will move you back.  Most want to be moved up and not moved back; being moved back would be humiliating.  So, are you someone important?  

     That can be tricky to answer.  We were made someone important.  Jesus left his great throne in heaven, left behind his glory, and became a man.  He emptied himself of the majesty that was his in order that he could move back and so you and I could move forward.  We move forward to a place of honor, to the place where only the sons sit at the banquet.  Because of what Jesus did for us, his death on the cross, we are lifted up before God.  We are lifted up from the depths of the pit.  We are lifted up before God to be his beloved, redeemed children.  All because Jesus emptied himself and became a servant, the servant who suffered all.

    So, God has made us to be important before him; he has declared that we are holy, and we are his children.  We are now heirs to the kingdom of God; we are heirs to eternal life.  We are given the keys to the heavenly kingdom.  We are important; God sent his only son to die for you and for me; he would not have done that for someone who was not important.  He did it for someone he loved.  Now, as someone who God loves, we are entrusted with the rights of the family and with some of the responsibilities.

    God calls us to be his ambassadors.  We are to tell the world of Jesus and his love for us.  We are to demonstrate that love to the world.  We are to show the same mercy that he showed to us to those around us.  Just as Jesus brought healing into this world; we are to bring healing into this broken and fractured world.  We are to serve just as Jesus served.  We are to love our neighbors with the same Godly that he gives to us every day.  We are to love because we are first loved by him.

Gracious heavenly Father, your mercies are new to us each day.  You lowered Jesus so that we might be elevated.  You brought us out of the pit because you love us.  Lead us in your truth.  Lead us to know your eternal love.  Lead us to show your love.  Lead us to be your people.  Guide us by your Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret                

10-18-2020

  Good Morning All, 

       Psalm 51: 8(KJV); “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.”

    It might be an age thing; it seems that noise bothers me more than it used to and that more and more things are considered noise.  More and more there seems to be a constant rattle or chatter.  It seems that sometimes the goal is to see how loud and distracting the music can be.  There are many places where it is difficult to even hear yourself think let alone try to speak or listen to the person sitting beside you.  It is almost as if silence is something to be avoided. 

    It is the constant bombardment by noise from every angle and facet of life that is really becoming annoying.  There is noise coming from every direction; some of it is music played too loud, or the incessant phone calls trying to sell me this or that or asking my opinion about someone or something.  It is the ads on TV that seem to be played louder than the rest of the show.  It is the talking heads on the radio or TV that yell and carry on and say absolutely nothing.  It is the ridiculous automated ads on the internet that start playing when you are trying to read an article.  It is everywhere.  I remember the days of my youth when I helped my dad farm, and the tractor did not have a radio and cell phones were only a futuristic nightmare.  There were actually times when you did not have to listen to the noise. 

    The worst noise we hear is the noise that the devil plays in our ears.  The noise that tells us we have no value or worth; the noise that speaks to our flaws and fears, to our weaknesses and our pain.  There is the noise that keeps us from resting peacefully at night, as we toss and turn because of the noise in our head and in our heart.  There is a lot of noise out there and it makes everything difficult.  It makes it hard to listen and to speak and it makes it almost impossible to not feel some sort of pain.

    This why the psalmist wrote our verse; “Make me hear joy and gladness.”  When we read the word make, do not think in terms of a requirement or a law but rather a request to “change the station.”  Instead of hearing the pain and the sadness, make it so I hear only your joy and your gladness.  Drive the pain away, take the sorrow away; leave me with the peaceful sounds of your voice in my head and heart.  We do this best by staying in God’s Word, by reading it and meditating on it for a few minutes a day at least.  We do this best by staying in prayerful conversation with God.  We speak to him and open our hearts to his loving healing touch.  By focusing on God’s Word and by hearing the sweet sounds of his love and grace being poured out upon us, we can best drown out the noise of the world.

Father, send us the beautiful sound of your mercy.  Let the symphony of your grace enliven our hearts and lift our souls.  Keep our focus always on you.  Keep us always in your loving arms.  Be with those who are only hearing the pain of the world.  Heal those who know only suffering and sorrow.  Defend them from the devil’s attacks and give them the peaceful, heavenly rest that only you can give.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior and King we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

1017-2020

 Good Morning All, 

          Exodus 20:4; “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

    They have many names; talismans, house gods, fertility gods, graven images, totems and many more.  We often just call them idols.  The simplest definition of an idol is to call it a “false god.”  It is often a carved representation of a creature, either real or imagined, that is believed to have powers that can affect the lives of humans.  In many cultures, the blood of lions, or bears, or eagles, or whales, or other powerful creatures was considered to have magical or mystical powers.  Even plants were given special places of reverence.  There was a time when every living thing was believed to be a spirit capable of influencing and affecting human life.  People would watch and study the animals to see if they acted in a specific manner.  These actions were interpreted to mean good or ill was on the way.

    As humans grew in knowledge and understanding, they changed their view somewhat.  They still watched and studied animals but more as predictors or indicators of events.  When the geese fly south, winter is on the way.  Fish spawn in the spring and the like. 

     Most of us read this with a smile and a nodding indifference to idols.  After all, we do not line our windows with carved cows, dogs, or bears.  We do not have a totem in the backyard.  We do not have idols and if we do, they are things out there that are acceptable to want unless you go too far.  It is ok to desire money, to want to be popular, to view others as highly successful and thus ones to emulate; just do not overdo it.  Who does not want to be like a great baseball, football, basketball, volleyball star?  Who would not want the life of a movie star or a billionaire?  These “idols”, though problematic are “out there” and can be dealt with and isolated.

    Yet for all of us, the greatest idol we battle is not “out there” but “in here.”  Our greatest idol is our own heart.  It is our selfish, sinful heart that leads to our destruction.  It is our sinful heart that leads us to turn from our neighbor in need and from our God in majesty.  It is our heart that we worship the most.  It is our own selfishness that leads us to worship our biggest idol and that is our own self.

    So, as we consider this commandment of God, let us consider that our biggest challenge is not idolatry that is “out there” but it is the idolatry that is “in here” in my heart.  We are all susceptible to it; we are all hurt by it, but we are all forgiven.  We are forgiven by the true God whose love for us gives us the strength to see past our selfishness and to see the love which he has for us; a love that never ends.

Father of all mercy, too often I fail to see the true idol in my life.  Give me the strength to stand up to the lies I tell myself and to change my heart.  Help me to see that living in your kingdom provides for me all that I need and truly want.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret